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Boys vs. Girls 2 Prelude
Boys vs. Girls 2 Prelude is an action/adventure novel and an installment of the D.I.T. Literary Universe. It is set before the events of Boys vs. Girls 2 and after those of Boys vs. Girls: The Fate of the Towers and it focuses on the lives of Charles, Steven Thompson, and Summer Petersen. It also features the Battle of Orem from McKeen's perspective in full detail. This novel, unlike others in the DLU, is taken hugely from D. Isaac Thomas, the author's, real experiences in twelfth grade in 2018 and 2019. It is the thirty-fourth book in the D.I.T. Literary Universe, as well as the thirteenth installment of Part Four: Truth Eternal. It was released on August 16, 2019. The book features Charles as protagonist, Luke Norris as deuteragonist, Steven Thompson and Rose Johannson as tritagonists, Helen McKeen, Summer Petersen, and Valiera Nelson as quarternary characters, Natalia Thornton as antagonist, Miranda Patrick as secondary antagonist, Beion and Nicholas Phee as tertiary antagonists, and Cera Lewis and Mr. Phee as quarternary antagonists. Summary Adolescents Charles and Steven Thompson butt heads when they are both seeking the women they love. Meanwhile, the evil Natalia Thornton and Beion lead the Cavaliers in an all-out assault against Helen McKeen and the Armies of Organa for supremacy of the Earth. Synopsis The book opens when Charles is riding the bus to Tower Placement School for the first day of his Senior year. He enters the building intending to seek out his best friend Luke Norris and school crush Valiera Nelson, and encounters her, Chris, and Miranda Patrick, which prompts Nelson to run for it. Returning home after school, Charles finally finds Norris, awkwardly informing him of the day's events. Meanwhile, the Armies of Organa prepare to battle Natalia Thornton. Summer Petersen asks Steven Thompson if it will really come to war, but Thompson says it feels as it did before. We then learn that Charles takes General Financial Lit during fifth period, with Patrick, who ignores him when he introduces himself and politely questions her for flicking him off during lunch. On Friday afternoon, he sees Dustin bullying a girl named Rose Johannson who is with Norris and a boy named Carl Alex. After Dustin leaves, they also meet Jamie and Wesley Denkenberger. That night, Charles demands Norris text him so they can discuss a huge mistake he recently made. On Tuesday, Norris reveals that Nelson yelled and swore at him and blocked him, all without provocation. Two days later, Charles realizes Nelson is angry with him for speaking with Patrick or trying to get a boy named Ray Eliott in trouble, threatening to hurt him if this continues. Shortly after Labor Day, Charles also meets Valiera's younger brother, Nicholas Nelson. In the mix, he speaks with his counselor about Valiera, and they agree that as he had promised to give her space, he should keep his word until a meeting they hope to schedule for the beginning of October. Three days later, he and Summer Petersen attend a special class session, but then he overhears Petersen telling Steven Thompson that she may be spirited from Provo against her wishes and forced into hiding. Shortly afterwards, he encounters Nelson again when he meets up with his friends, surprising her that they know the same people. On September 17, Charles and Rose Johannson agree to meet together at his house so he can help her with her homework, only for her father Jeff to say no. The following morning, he goes with Johannson and three of their friends to get food from a gas station. He goes to the Counseling Office again, where he and his counselor decide not to hold the meeting with Nelson until she is more polite. To verify, he is given a homework assignment — to record all of the times they meet and return to the office when he has three examples concocted. Throughout the week, he successfully carries out the task. On September 27, Charles concocts two more examples and attends a second special session mandatory for Senior students, during which time he foolishly tries to keep Nelson company, making her and Patrick (whom she has been unhealthily clinging to since before the start of the book) furious. Shortly afterwards, he learns that Nelson refused to meet with him. Charles meets Valiera's brother Nicholas again on October 6 when he requested that Charles' misled mother, Leah, pick him up from his apartment, as he is friends with Charles' narcissistic stepbrother, Nicholas Phee, son of his abusive stepfather, known as Mr. Phee. He also meets the playful and petite Saul Nelson, and they proceed to eat out at . He eventually deduces that Valiera has been "emancipated" depending on one's point of view. Charles enthusiastically greets Nicholas a few days later. On October 12, Carl Alex mysteriously appears again, looking for Rose Johannson. His initially faint distrust of her increases when Alex reveals that Johannson is ghosting him and dating a Lesbian named Madeline. On Friday, Charles asks student Hebe what has become of Alex, and she tells him that Alex has run away from home, which Luke Norris later confirms. On October 18, Charles and his family begin Fall Break by partying and eating chili in the evening. He also goes to the playground with Norris. During a meeting of the informal Gay-Straight Alliance, Charles acquires a door prize — a free ticket to the school dance that is to be held in a week. Charles ultimately decides to invite Valiera, posting a proposition on Instagram and waiting for Nelson to find it. While he waits, he goes to a place called Rush with his family. On November 1, Charles goes to a seemingly deserted playground, sits down, and contacts Luke Norris. They talk about how they had spent Halloween — Charles went trick or treating with a small girl named Carolyn and a couple of high schoolers, while Norris went with his sister Christina. Valiera shows up in response to being tagged and demands that he leave her alone, and she threatens to get cops involved. Charles realizes something is wrong in the playground, only to see Natalia Thornton there. Asking Norris bot to interfere at all, Charles uses the radiation from his cell phone to siphon the energy, thwarting Thornton's nefarious operation while he proceeds to ask Nelson how she wants their problem solved. However, after she has an emotional breakdown and tags Miranda Patrick and Will Ostler to help her verbally abuse him, he gives up and attacks Thornton outright. Josh Hogan bursts in and carts Charles to safety, at which point he tells him about Operation: Despair and the Guild of Gourds. Following this event, Charles finally acknowledges that Valiera Nelson hates him, something he no longer wants to change. At school, he optimistically reports Nelson's crimes of years past to school administration. Following this, the staff confront Charles for his role in the Battle of GT-2 Base and they tell him his parents have revoked his right to work independently at home. Later, Steven Thompson asks Charles for help, as he considers him an invaluable recruit and tells him the Guild of Gourds has made him aware of a rumor that Charles wanted to recruit Valiera to the Boy-Team, shocking him. On November 25, Charles posts four memes on Instagram that he thinks describe people in his life. On December 5, Charles prepares to go to Tutorial. However, on the way down, he encounters Rose Johannson and two of her friends and together they find not only Carl Alex but also Valiera Nelson and Ray Eliott. During the conversation that follows, Johannson and Charles make amends and Nelson begins to complain that Miranda Patrick is giving her grief. However, she also lets slip that she lied about quitting smoking. Finally, they meet up at a door and agree to split. Hours later, he contacts Johannson on Facebook, who re-friends him. The following day, he sees the new trio again but without Rose Johannson. Alex invites him to do something secretive with him, but when the time comes, Charles learns that Alex has lied. He seeks and confronts him, agreeing to give him a second chance. The following morning, Charles confirms that he's interested in hanging with Johannson and in the evening, Leah drives Charles there and she meets Johannson and her parents. Johannson introduces Charles to her pets, including her cat Little Sister, and they go downstairs to smoke weed with her friend Nina. They eventually go up to Johannson's room, where Johannson tells Charles about Andre, her boyfriend, and informs him that Carl's posse has a controversial regard for him, Valiera included. After they do a few leisurely activities together, Johannson asks Charles if he wants to sleep over that night, but Leah won't have it. Eventually, Johannson's parents go to and buy Charles and Johannson a treat. Finally, Charles' ride arrives. The following day, Johannson feels ill and asks Charles to come visit her, but Leah says no. On Sunday, Andre contacts Charles for reassurance that Johannson still likes him. In the evening, Charles invites both Carl Alex and Johannson over for dinner, but they both decline. On December 12, Johannson recovers and surprises him the following day by saying she wants to hang out. On December 14, Charles asks Rose Johannson to Winter Dance as friends, which she considers (as Valiera's rebuttal and Natalia's attempt on his life prevented him from attending the last dance). The next day, at noon, Johannson says yes. When Charles arrives at her house with flowers, he introduces her to his entire family and they take off to Tower Placement to meet up with Charles' science-class entourage. They enjoy themselves for a while, but Johannson suddenly calls Carl Alex by snatching Charles' phone and harassing him, the first real foreshadowing of her adult self in ''The Return of the Verasect''. Alex defends his actions and yells at Johannson until she cries and he proceeds to go on the run. Charles takes his phone back and everyone goes to , where Charles comforts Johannson. The next day, she asks him to bring her food, to which he suggests she cook some eggs. On December 18, he defends Carl Alex to Leah, considering Alex to be less likely to hurt him. On December 20, Charles assembles presents for several of his friends and ultimately gets most of them delivered. December 21 is the day of the winter solstice, something Charles' family takes very seriously. Johannson asks Charles if he wants to hang out and upon accepting, he offers to bring macaroni cheese to cook, but Little Sister injures Charles' hand. Then Charles is picked up by his professional caretaker Christina and her two-year-old daughter Karen, and they go to the and to purchase Christmas gifts for family members. Charles proceeds to meditate upon the winter solstice. Late at night on December 23, he brings Johannson the gift, at which point he promises himself friends come before family with all having been considered. However, things take a turn for the worst when a few days later, Leah pulls Charles aside right before dinner and tells him that she has a restraining order set between him and Johannson, and between him and Alex. In a Post-Script scene foreshadowing The X-Adults: Endgame: The New Order, Master Intelligence, Hardy, and Titanium Girl are discussing rumors that the Greek God Zeus was seen in person during a religious celebration, when a mysterious black-haired girl known only as "the Ruby Eidolon" turns up and demands to know where Eegan Grover is. Development This novel, unlike others in the D.I.T. Literary Universe, is based on a true story, as it is taken hugely from D. Isaac Thomas, the author's, real experiences in twelfth grade in 2018 and 2019. For instance, Charles is based loosely on Thomas himself, Luke Norris is based on Tyson, Rose Johannson is based on Emily, Valiera Nelson is based on Nikki, Carl Alex is based on Kelly, and Crystal is based on Destiny, and many others have a real person they are loosely based on as well. All five of the aforementioned people were Thomas' peers in twelfth grade. In December of 2018, the synopsis of the novel was revealed, along with the existence of Rose Johannson, among others, leading many to suspect she and "Nurse Rose" were the same character, which ultimately turned out to be true. On the other hand, Crystal's reappearance was kept a complete secret until the novel was released on August 16, 2019. Regards Crystal's appearance in Prelude, D. Isaac Thomas explained that he debated with a friend of his about introducing her earlier in the book or hold onto her introduction later, ultimately choosing the latter option because he felt that due to Crystal's antagonism towards Rose Johannson, it was more effective for her not be introduced earlier as it could have given away too soon that Johannson was not what she seemed. D. Isaac Thomas has confirmed that all of the main characters in this book are supposed to represent one of the Ten Virtues of Buddhism, or Pāramitā: #''Dāna pāramī '': generosity, giving of oneself - Helen McKeen #''Sīla pāramī '': virtue, morality, proper conduct - Steven Thompson #''Nekkhamma pāramī '': renunciation - Miranda Patrick #''Paññā pāramī '': transcendental wisdom, insight, discernment - Carl Alex #''Viriya pāramī '': energy, diligence, vigor, effort - Val Quintana #''Khanti pāramī '': patience, tolerance, forbearance, acceptance, endurance - Rose Johannson #''Sacca pāramī '': truthfulness, honesty - Josh Hogan #''Adhiṭṭhāna pāramī '': determination, resolution - Charles #''Mettā pāramī '': goodwill, friendliness, loving-kindness - Luke Norris #''Upekkhā pāramī '': equanimity, serenity - Summer Petersen Gallery Charles.jpg|Charles Luke Headshot BVG2P.jpg|Luke Norris Helen shock wave.png|Helen tapping into her new powers. Boys-vs-Girls-2-prelude-Helen.png|Helen at her house during the Second School War. Valnovember.png|"Back up real quickly on that bulls**t!" Valiera and friends.png|"This picture was taken twenty minutes after we almost died." Rose Crystal.jpg|Rose Johannson (right) and Crystal (left) Rating Like its predecessors, Boys vs. Girls 2 Prelude is rated PG-13 (parents strongly cautioned). The book is rated "action violence, brief strong language including sexual innuendo, drug references, smoking, and thematic elements - all involving teens". Trivia *There are a small handful of inconsistencies in the book that do not line up with previous installments of the D.I.T. Literary Universe: **Steven Thompson tells Charles that he wants him to "join the Boy-Team", despite the fact that according to the original three books, he already worked for the Boy-Team part time, having fought in the Battle of GT-2 Base and, in Prelude, trying to recruit Valiera Nelson and taking orders from Vincent Organa. ***Although, it could just be Thompson's annoyance that made him use the word "join the Boy-Team" in order to show his contempt that he feels Charles isn't doing enough. **To become a nurse, Rose Johannson would have had to go to medical school first. However, it is established in Prelude that she frequently missed parts of school, especially junior high, and rarely went to school at all during the Second School War, which would have made her fall short by a longshot of the expectations to get into medical school to begin with, so her prequel story arc defeats its purpose by contradicting her original story in The Super Babies. ***It is possible that Johannson pulled herself together after 2013 and repeated several years of school and getting her high school degree to begin medical school long after most of her peers graduated. **Crystal is in attendance at Tower Placement School. According to a conversation between Crystal and Master Intelligence in The X-Children: Where Are You Now?, she is sixteen years of age. However, she is shown here going to school and hanging out with a fifteen-year-old Johannson in 2013, a time when she wouldn't have been born yet, leaving the curious plothole that she may be the one friend Johannson kept since childhood and, even more dubiously, whether Crystal has somehow been sixteen for many years. Appearances Locations *GT-3 Base *Johannson House *Petersen Estate *Phee House *Tower Placement School Events *Second School War **Skirmish in Provo **Battle of Orem **Infiltration of GT-3 Base Objects *Laser sword Organizations *Armies of Organa *Cavaliers of Thornton *International Alliance New characters *Carl Alex *Taylor Avery (mentioned previously) *Aspen *Charles' counselor *Charles' half brother *Chris *Wesley Denkenberger *Ray Eliott *Jamie *Rose Johannson *Leah (mentioned previously) *Madeline *Valiera Nelson's counselor *Ann Mex *Nicholas Phee *The greatest ginger *Steven Thompson's nephew *Adam Whitman Mentioned *Girl-Team *Second Battle of Tower Placement Prelude Category:Books Category:PG-13 rated books Category:2019 books Category:D.I.T. books Category:Part Four: Truth Eternal books